Hurricane Earl Prompts Tri-State Weather Alerts

MYFOXNY.COM - The National Weather Service has issued a Tropical Storm Warning for Long Island and portions of New Jersey and Connecticut. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for sections of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut because of Hurricane Earl.

Earl has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, but is still packing dangerous force capable of doing serious damage.

The Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for portions of the Long Island and Connecticut coastal waters and New York Harbor; Atlantic, Cape May, Burlington, Camden, Ocean, Cumberland, Monmouth, Gloucester, Mercer, and Middlesex counties in New Jersey; Suffolk County in New York; and Middlesex, New Haven, and New London counties in Connecticut through the early hours of Friday, Sept. 3, 2010.

The Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties in New Jersey; New York City and Westchester, Rockland, and Nassau counties in New York; and Fairfield County in Connecticut through early Friday, Sept. 2, 2010.

The NWS will likely extend and modify these watches and warnings as Earl progresses through the weekend.

The New York Weather Authority Team will continue to monitor the track of Earl as any shift to the west would dramatically change the forecast. However, Nick Gregory believes that would be unlikely.

Officials in shore towns in the Tri-State are expecting 6- to 12-foot waves during the upcoming busy Labor Day weekend beginning Friday. Rip currents have been strong and are expected to intensify as the storm approaches. Beach erosion will likely worsen depending on the strength of the storm.

As Hurricane Earl approaches, sustained tropical storm force winds are expected to begin early on Friday and they should continue into Friday afternoon.

The impact from combined storm surge and tide waters is expected to be minor to locally moderate. The storm surge is forecast to range from 1 to 2 feet, perhaps locally 2 to 3 feet.

High surf is expected from Thursday night into Friday with minor to moderate beach erosion.

Expect a high risk of rip currents Thursday and Friday at area beaches. The National Weather Service urges beach goers to stay out of the water.